Sexual extortion and how to protect yourself from it?

11 June 2024 5 minutes Author: Cyber Witcher

We explain how criminals use threats to release intimate images or videos to force a victim to provide additional content or pay money. The article covers the techniques used by attackers and provides protection tips such as saving all messages, refusing to pay or send additional materials, and reporting incidents to law enforcement. Learn how to protect yourself and your loved ones from this form of blackmail.

What is sexual extortion?

Sexual solicitation allows an attacker to send sexual images or videos of you to others unless you pay them or provide additional sexual content. This definition of sexual solicitation applies to any article, and the attack can be aimed at anyone of any age, but perpetrators tend to target young people.

A sexual predator uses their fear of being shamed against their victim. Knowing that their target does not want to see degrading content online, they use threats to encourage young people to give them money. The attacker can also send the images to the victim’s parents, school officials, or even their employer if the target doesn’t pay them or send additional content.

How does sexual extortion happen?

Typically, sexual solicitation begins with a seemingly normal conversation on the Internet. The attacker then turns the conversation romantic or sexual before asking the victim to send a nude video or photo.

In order to deceive their victims, these predators embellish their targets or give them great importance because they feel valuable, special or unique. They may also try to make victims feel bad about themselves by using pitiful stories in the hope of eliciting sympathy from them. . If the target is emotionally vulnerable, the attacker can pretend to be an understanding interlocutor with open ears.

However, after the victim sends explicit content, the attacker either requests additional content or asks for payment in exchange for not posting or forwarding sexually explicit material sent by the victim. Attackers often pretend to be a girl or a 10-year-old boy to gain the victim’s trust.

How do you know who you can trust online?

It’s hard to decide who to trust, but you can reduce the risk of sexual harassment by only communicating online with someone you’ve met in person, even if you’ve met someone here in person, you can check the legitimacy of your online profile by checking the following details. as date of birth. date of birth and recent messages that you can verify are authentic. It is important. This is because someone can steal your friend’s online ID in an attempt to get close to you.

Another way to determine who you can trust online is to check that person’s friends list. If you are friends with each other, you can check if they are face to face with this person. An attacker can create a network of “friends” and “contacts”, so only personal interaction serves as proof of a person’s authenticity.

Some people think that talking to someone on the phone is enough proof of their identity. However, if the person is the same gender as the person they are impersonating, they can introduce themselves as your online “friend” over the phone. You should also pay attention to video chat. The user can claim that their camera is not working or that the bandwidth is too low and leave the camera off while recording everything on the screen.

How to protect yourself from sexual extortion

If you know what to look for, protecting yourself from sexual blackmail is not that difficult. Here are some simple steps to follow when communicating with other people online or through text messages.

  1. Don’t share personal information online. If you share something personal, be careful when someone mentions what you posted. Often, criminals get a small piece of information from a victim’s profile or channel and can use it to gain trust. For example, they might be woken up by someone from a senior class at a school next door to the victim’s school. The victim’s message explains how an attacker could use a detailed message at a sporting event, such as: “Hi, 23 points!” not bad!”

  2. Be careful with people you meet online for the first time. If you receive a message from someone you don’t know, block or ignore it. If it exists only on the Internet, it is impossible to establish the identity of this person.

  3. If someone is only available online, this can be a red flag. They can steal other people’s photos and videos and recognize them as their own. They can also steal photos of neighborhoods, streets, restaurants, and shops they’ve visited.” Personal communication isn’t the only evidence of their identity.

  4. Be careful if you’ve met someone on the app or committed a crime and are asked to continue the conversation on another platform. They may have played games or used apps to try to seduce someone.

  5. Understand that you can share and publish absolutely anything you share online – images, videos, text messages, etc. also, once you send something, there’s no way to control where it goes.

  6. Don’t hesitate to ask for help. Responsible Adults, Parents, administrators, close friends, and authority figures are often willing to listen and may be able to help you. It’s important not only to stop an attack or prevent another, but to alert the authorities so they can investigate and protect others.

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